Jumanji
by optimusprime22
Summary: Brantford 1991, Peter and Judy Shepherd have recently lost their parents in a skiing accident and are now living with their Aunt Nora in Brantford. But when they find a mysterious boardgame in the attic they're in for a wild adventure...
1. Chapter 1

_The Price_

In a pleasant and busy neighborhood sat a large, white mansion with a curious circular window in the attic. It was an old house badly in need of a paint job and some minor repairs, but with a good view of the woods out back. A blue 'Bob's Removal' van had pulled up in front of it.

"Nyah, nyah, nyah nyah! You can't catch me!" Peter taunted. He ran about the foyer evading his sister's attempts to catch him.

"Peter! Stop before you have an accident!" yelled his older sister, Judy. There was a crash as Peter smashed into a pillar, knocking over a vase. It shattered into many tiny pieces. Peter gulped as Judy and their Aunt Nora glared down at him. He sweated nervously, knowing he was going to be told off.

"Peter Zechariah Shepherd!" his Aunt screeched with a face like thunder. She used his full name, which usually meant he was in deep trouble. "How many times must I tell you not to run about indoors!" Fortunately, that was all; no groundings, nothing. She took a deep breath and counted to ten until she calmed down.

"Judy, find something to keep Peter occupied while I help the courier unpack," Aunt Nora said calmly to Judy. Peter had pulled himself up from off the floor and dusted himself off.

"Come on Peter, if you're good I'll get you an ice cream," Judy said as she frogmarched him upstairs.

"Fine! I want chocwut!" said Peter. They looked around as they climbed upstairs. The house looked very posh, with marble banisters and a chessboard pattern on the ground floor. However, the house gave Peter goosebumps. Despite it being the hottest day of the year, it was strangely cold upstairs.

* * *

Judy admired the house; whoever previously owned it had very expensive tastes. She had a taste for fine art, and she admired the paintings on the walls as she climbed the stairs. But as she neared the top step, a faint drumming was heard coming from the attic. Curiousity got the better of her and she ran the rest of the way.

Peter tried to stop her by tugging on her blue dungarees. "Judy, are you mad? There could be an ax murderer up there!"

Judy pulled roughly away from him "Peter, don't be stupid."

She wondered what went on in that empty skull of his as she opened the attic door.

"Gee, it's rather dark in here," Judy said nervously. Unlike her little brother, she wasn't frightened. Well, maybe a bit. _Maybe Peter was right, anyone could be hiding in these shadows._ The only light came from the curious looking circular window that was smack-bang in the middle of wall facing the streets below. Judy wiped her finger across a support beam, it was covered in years of dust. _Ugh! So filthy!_

"Could be spiders up here," Peter said with a smirk. He knew his sister hated spiders and other creepy-crawlies. Anything small that scuttled about made her shriek.

Judy frowned. _Thanks Peter..._ She decided to get him back for teasing her.

"Bet there are boogeymen too," she teased. Peter was such a baby, he still believed there were monsters under the bed.

"Eep! Boogeymen!" Peter yelped, jumping into Judy's arms. Despite being small compared to other kids of his age, he was still much too heavy for her to be carrying him. Her legs buckled under the weight and she collapsed with Peter sitting on her.

"Peter, get off of me please," Judy groaned.

"Oops, sorry," Peter said sheepishly as he helped her up.

Judy dusted herself off. "Come on, let's look around. We might find something cool," Judy explained cautiously as she looked around.

"Nah, probably just old people's stuff," Peter said in a bored voice, yawning loudly to make his point.

"No look. I've found something!" Judy exclaimed urgently.

"Cool! Lemme see!" Peter said.

"Looks like a board game. It says 'Jumanji' on the cover of the box," Judy said. She was drawn to this strange board game; she had never seen it before.

"Cool beans!" Peter said with joy. That was one thing that annoyed Judy, Peter's lame catchphrases. Next he'd be telling her to eat his shorts.

Peter then shoved his face right into the box. Judy rolled her eyes. There could have been anything in that box, such as venomous scorpions, and he had just shoved his head in there. From the inside of the box, its contents could only see Peter's enormous blue eye. It wasn't a pleasant sight.

Judy sighed heavily as she pried Peter's face from the contents of the box. "Let's have a closer look at you," she said to the board game as she took it out of the box.

She stroked the cover and raised it to her face and inhaled deeply. There was a musky scent of mahogany. Running her fingers across the cover, Judy could feel it had been carved into and expertly sanded.

"Are you done making out with that thing?" Peter asked.

Judy sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, beats Snakes and Ladders."

She placed the boardgame on a wooden crate. There were two smaller crates nearby. Judy felt they would be handy as makeshift chairs.

"Now let's see what's inside," Judy said as she fiddled around for a catch. "Bingo!" She found a set of golden clasps on the sides of the game.

After several minutes of fiddling with the golden clasps sealing the game box, Judy finally opened the game. The lid flipped open like a pair of doors. Inside was a maze of ivory tiles spread across the board.

"But where do we start?" she asked herself. She quickly found out, in each corner was a square labled 'start'. Judy smiled smugly. "Ah, easy enough."

Next was the black glass orb in the centre. Judy touched it; it felt cold. She tried to see if it could be removed, but it was stuck in place.

"I wonder what that's for," Judy asked as she brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes.

Peter was curious about the orb as well. It was smooth and polished so well that he could see his face in it. He took the opportunity to pull silly faces. Judy facepalmed. Peter could so childish sometimes.

Judy then noticed hidden boxes on either side of the game board. The hinges creaked as she flipped them back, but she was pleased to see the dice and playing figures inside. "Can't get far without these," she said with a grin.

"Come on, let's play already!" Peter whined. He began kicking the large crate they were sitting at.

"Hang on, it has instructions," Judy replied. Written on one of the secret compartment lids it read: 'Rules for playing the game. Do not start a game you don't intend to finish.'

Judy wasn't sure why that was part of the instructions, but continued reading nonetheless.

* * *

"Ok, Miss Know-it-all! Can we play now?" Peter said in a sulky tone.

"Fine..." Judy sighed. "You have to pick a piece to play with."

"I pick the rhinoceros," Peter replied as he placed the figurine on the board.

Judy placed a figurine on the opposite side of the board. "I'll pick the tiger."

"Who gets to roll?" Peter asked.

"We'll roshambo for it," Judy explained. They played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide. Peter won so he went first.

"Let's roll!" Peter said while rolling the dice. He landed on three. Peter was about to move his piece but it suddenly slid away from his hand. It stopped after three spaces.

"Huh? Cool beans!" he cheered while clapping. A yellow light erupted from the glass orb. Green letters rippled into view as if the orb contained some sort of liquid.

Judy read the text that was swimming in the inky darkness of the orb. "Clear as ice, but worth the price."

Then yellow, wispy tendrils slithered around them and they felt like they were being sucked into a black hole. Judy felt very nauseous as she was being stretched and squeezed. She felt quite alarmed by what was happening and so she cried out.

"Aaaaaaaah!" They both screamed before vanishing completely.

* * *

They woke up in a dark jungle. The sounds of many exotic creatures filled the air. Peter could make out lions roaring, monkeys hollering and crickets chirping. He wasn't sure what this place was, but it frightened him.

"W-where are we?" Peter asked, wide-eyed and trembling with fear as Judy clasped him tightly in her arms. Peter peered out from under Judy's arms and squinted into the darkness. Tall trees surrounded them, blocking out most of the moonlight. He smelled moss and wet dirt which made his stomach queasy.

Peter stuck his head out further for a better look and saw two wide-set green eyes blinking slowly back at him through the low hanging branches. He heard the slobbering of wet lips smacking together. He gulped and tucked his head back into Judy's tight embrace.

"I d-d-don't kn-kn-know!" Judy stammered. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a kookaburra laughed manically. She tightened her hold on Peter.

A pair of red eyes emerged from the darkness. There was a low growl as the thing bared its fangs. Judy shivered as she did not want to imagine what sort of monster those eyes belonged to.

They heard something in the bushes and then a large beast lunged at them.

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!" they screamed.

They could see that the beast had a large pair of goatlike horns, but it moved about like a wolverine. The beast's hackles rose and its lips curled back to expose yellowish, bloody fangs. The creature snarled at them. They shook like leaves as they hugged each other tight. The beast was about to lunge at them again, but a figure tackled the fiend. This gave Peter and Judy time to get away.

"Come on!" Judy said pulling on Peter's arm. They found somewhere to hide behind a banana tree.

"Who was that?" Peter asked.

"I don't know, but I think he just saved our lives."

"Judy, are we stuck here?" Peter looked right into his sister's bright blue eyes as he asked her.

"I don't know Peter; I really don't know," Judy replied as she hugged him and stroked his brown hair.

~Jumanji~

Meanwhile, Aunt Nora wondered what was going on upstairs. Those screams didn't sound like her neice and nephew were playing quietly.

"Are you two alright up there?" she called up to them. She then shrugged her shoulders and thought nothing more of it.

~Jumanji

Peter watched as the monster retreated. The man did so as well.

"I think it's over Judy; they're gone," Peter said, sighing with relief.

However, the man jumped out at them from the canopy of a nearby palm tree. They yelped and huddled in fear. The man had a scruffy, tangled beard, filthy, muddy skin, and was wearing rotten animal skins and furs. The stench coming from him was incredible. Peter's eyes watered as he held his nose.

"P-p-please don't hurt us!" Judy stammered.

The man had a crazed look in his eyes. He was still trembling from the fight he just had with the creature, so Peter and Judy kept their distance. Plus he looked a crazed hobo, Judy was taught to avoid such scruffy looking men.

"Jumanji," the man croaked in a dry, rasping voice.

A bullet whizzed past, startling the man. He retreated into the bushes and vanished. Another man stepped forward; he was dressed in an old fashioned safari outfit and was wearing a pith helmet. He looked like a typical Victorian game hunter.

Peter felt like they had stepped back in time. The man was much calmer than the half crazed maniac before him, but was still cautious.

He spoke sharply to them in a clean, British accent. "Do not speak. Follow me," he said quickly and sharply.

Peter and Judy shivered and were reluctant to trust him, so they refused to move.

"My name is Van Pelt, now get moving!" the man barked.

Van Pelt's tone was harsh like an old schoolmaster's. Peter and Judy were more scared of angering him than worrying about trusting him, so they did as they were told.

* * *

The hunter and the two children followed a path through the jungle, not saying a word to each other. Van Pelt came to a tangled web of vines blocking the way. He furiously sliced through them with his machete, and with just a glare he ordered Peter and Judy to follow.

As they trudged past the sliced up remains of the vines, the snake-like tendrils tried to grab Peter's ankles.

As Peter dawdled behind, he didn't notice until it was too late that two vines had coiled around his ankles. He was yanked off his feet. Peter yelped as more vines tied around him and lifted him up into the air.

"Heeeeelp!" Peter cried.

This immediately attracted Van Pelt's attention. He shot the vines holding Peter and the boy dropped to ground with a thud. Judy quickly and wordlessly untangled Peter from the vines.

"Come on! It's not safe here!" Van Pelt barked.

They eventually made it to a river,. The only way across was a large rock in the middle that they had to jump from. Van Pelt and Judy easily made it across, but Peter hesitated.

He soon learnt it wasn't a rock, but an angry hippopotamus. The hippo threw Peter off and growled at him. Van Pelt only had to cock his gun and the hippopotamus retreated back into the water.

"Hurry up, clumsy boy!" Van Pelt snapped.

Judy scowled. _How dare he talk to Peter like that_. However, Peter warned her with a nervous glance it wasn't a good idea to argue with him. Van Pelt was armed after all, and with that short temper he could easily turn on them.

Eventually they arrived at a wooden hut. They assumed logically that this was Van Pelt's home. However, they were not alone as monkeys soon accosted them.

The furry simians pulled at their hair and clothes.

"Ow!" Judy yelled as a monkey pulled at her pigtails. Peter winced as a monkey picked lice from his hair and ate them.

Van Pelt shot his gun into air and the monkeys retreated. Peter and Judy followed Van Pelt indoors. But as they passed three monkeys who were fighting over a crossbow, Peter noticed that the larger one was actually an ape.

He was a simple and dumb looking ape. Peter winced as a crossbow bolt narrowly missed the ape's head, embedding itself a few inches just above his head. The other monkeys laughed at his expense. Peter chuckled too.

The middle-sized monkey of the group glared harshly at Peter. He reminded Peter of his sister, especially when she was being bossy. Peter also noticed the monkey was blind in one eye; it had a cateract and a horrible scar.

Finally, the smallest monkey and obvious prankster of the group reminded Peter of himself: small and constantly joking around. He giggled as he watched the monkeys hit each other with crossbows.

Van Pelt seemed furious. Peter could see he was clenching his teeth and his face turned red. "How dare you! Simian rats! Begone!" He waved his gun at them, shooing them away. Unfortunately they took the crossbow with them.

Eventually, Peter and Judy were indoors by a blazing hot fire. The hut was dark aside from the flickering orange light from the hearth. Van Pelt sat in a formidable armchair, lit a pipe and took a few puffs. Peter coughed as the air filled with acrid smoke.

"Now you may speak. Tell me, what were you doing in the jungle at night with that flea-bitten cur?" asked Van Pelt.

"This place stinks like an elephant's butt!" Peter remarked. The place stunk. Peter wasn't sure if it was the smoke from Van Pelt's pipe or the creepy animal heads staring down at him. They looked as if they had been freshly killed, at least he thought so, they looked so life like.

"Peter! Don't be so rude!" Judy scolded him.

"Well it does!" Peter replied.

"Answer the question!" Van Pelt snapped. Peter and Judy yelped.

"Here's the skinny; keep in mind that even I don't believe what happened. A game brought us here," Judy explained.

"A game?" Van Pelt asked.

"Yes, a board game, I think it was called Jumanji," Judy explained.

Van Pelt was reloading his gun. Judy didn't seem notice as she continued to drone on about Jumanji. "We got here by rolling some dice, then some words appeared: a clue. 'Clear as ice, but worth the price.'"

"I didn't see no clue!" Peter said in disbelief. The truth was he wasn't paying attention to the board; he was too busy cheering at getting a good roll.

"That's because you don't follow the rules, numbskull!" Judy retorted.

"Oh, master of board games now are we, Jude?" Peter said. "You know, I'd rather stay here and hang out with Van Pelt than you!"

"Peter, none of this is real! It's just a hologram or a game or-"

"It's not a game!" Van Pelt snapped. He fired his rifle at them but missed as someone yanked Peter and Judy up the fireplace by the scruff of their necks.

~Jumanji~

Peter and Judy were on the roof of the wooden hut. They saw who had rescued them. The bearded man from earlier. Before they could thank him a bullet shot through the thatched roof, startling Judy.

"Get moving, don't worry about me," the man said. It was an order, not a request.

Judy hesitated; this made things worse as the roof collapsed sending them plummeting onto Van Pelt.

"Get outta here! Run!" the bearded man barked. He grappled with Van Pelt, trying to get the gun from him.

"We're not leaving without you!" Judy cried. The bedraggled, bearded man had saved their lives, again. They couldn't leave him.

"Just go! I'll handle him!" the bearded man replied. Now was not the time to argue. "Ow!" He received several blows to the head from Van Pelt who was using his gun like a club.

"Come on, Judy!" Peter yelled. They went to leave, but a horde of monkeys stood in the doorway brandishing crossbows and glaring menacingly.

"Now what?" Judy asked.

After a desperate struggle, the bearded man managed to snatch the gun from Van Pelt and bludgeoned him with it until he stopped moving.

"Come on," the man said. He grabbed Peter and Judy and barged past the monkeys like a football player, knocking them aside.

They escaped into the night as bolts whizzed past them.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Price_

Peter and Judy followed the bearded man through the jungle. They were relieved to have escaped from Van Pelt's clutches. Peter's legs ached as they had been running for some time.

He stopped to catch his breath. "Can't we rest for a bit? I'm exhausted!" Peter gasped and clutched his stomach; he felt several pulled muscles.

The man stopped; he was exhausted too. "Alright, this place seems safe, for now. Find somewhere to sit," the man said as he paused to catch his breath. Peter and Judy wearily found a log to sit on. It looked far too small for the both of them, but they were too tired to bicker as they slumped down on to it.

"Ok, first thing's first: what were you two doing wandering around Jumanji at night? How did you even get here?" the man asked. His face hardened and he glared as he expected answers immediately. Judy was the first to reply.

"If we told you a game brought us here, you won't hurt us will you?" Judy stammered. She shook like a leaf, waiting for the man to make his next move.

The man relaxed and spoke softly. "No, of course not. Jumanji's the only game around here." He could tell the kids were still very nervous of him; he needed show them he meant no harm. "You can relax, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Wouldn't dream of it." Despite his rough, unkempt appearance, Judy could see a gentle kindness in his eyes.

"Oh, of course! I haven't even introduced myself!" The man sat up suddenly. "The name's Alan Parrish, but you can call me Al."

"We'd prefer Alan," Judy replied. She didn't approve of speaking informally to adults, even nice ones.

"And you are?" Alan asked. Before Peter could reply, Judy answered.

"I'm Bonnie and he's Clyde." Judy answered. Peter frowned at her in disbelief. Before he could argue she shook her head at him. ' _Just play along! We can't trust this guy yet!'_

"Nice to meet ya, Bonnie and Clyde." Alan shook their hands warmly. He didn't notice Judy snicker, ' _He fell for it!'_ she laughed to herself.

"Well, listen up, you can't trust anyone in Jumanji." Alan explained. Peter didn't even notice him grab a snake that was about to lunge at him and pulled it swiftly from the branches of a nearby palm. He threw the snake away.

"Not even you?" Peter asked cheekily.

"Well, I did save your butts from Van Pelt."

"Oh yeah, you nailed him! That was nizer!" Peter cooed.

"Oh, I'm afraid we may have not seen the last of him..." Alan explained. Just then a bullet whizzed past. "Speak of the devil, we best get moving. Now!" They didn't need to be told twice. They took off deeper into the jungle.

* * *

They soon arrived at a grove of monstrous looking flowers. Whatever these plants were, they were certainly not of this world. Judy was wary of them; she never took her eyes off them as she could swear she saw one move...

Peter was far more relaxed as he listened to Alan explain more about Van Pelt.

"You'll want to keep clear of that Van Pelt; he's a hunter, he hunts anything," Alan explained. Before he could continue, a flower grabbed Peter in its mouth.

"Mmmmm!" Peter cried from inside the plant's mouth.

"P-Clyde!" Judy yelled, almost forgetting to use their fake names. Alan said nothing as he quickly seized the man-eating plant and choked it until it spat Peter out. Peter landed with a splat along with a copious glob of purple goo.

"Yeeuuuch!" Peter groaned as the purple gunk oozed and dripped slowly from his arms.

"Daytime ones are poisonous; nighttime aren't so bad. Watch out for your brother, Bonnie." Alan explained as he tied the flower's throat in a knot. Peter had already pulled himself up with some difficulty as the slime was very slippery. Judy was still shaking from what happened.

"Peter, are you alright?" she whispered so Alan couldn't hear.

"Yeah, that was nothing, I could have got out of that!" Peter grinned. Judy facepalmed as she regained her composure.

"Just get moving, Plant Food!" Judy said as she shoved him forward.

Eventually, it was morning and they had arrived at a rickety, old rope bridge. Peter and Judy understandably did not want to cross it.

"That doesn't look safe..." said Judy.

"I know, but there's no other way across the ravine," Alan explained. They shrugged their shoulders and reluctantly followed him across. The bridge creaked under their weight. Judy tried not to look down as they slowly crept across the bridge. As they carefully made their way across, vines quickly grew from the bridge and ensnared them. Peter grunted as serpent-like vines coiled around his arms and legs.

"Ugh! Does everything try to kill you here?" Judy whined as flowers sprouted and hissed at her.

"I'm afraid so," Alan replied as more vines sprouted from the rope bridge.

"Nnnngh! Now what?" Peter grunted as the vines held onto him.

"Can you guys swim?" Alan asked.

"Kinda, why..." Peter asked. But it was too late: Alan sliced through the bridge with his machete. They screamed as they plunged to their doom.

* * *

Fortunately, they landed in a river with a splash. After a few seconds Alan emerged and gasped for air. Soon afterwards, Peter and Judy rose from the depths coughing and spluttering.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, _Kaff! Kaff!_ No thanks to you!" Peter had swallowed several mouthfuls of river water, and he found it difficult to speak while clearing his throat.

"We better get him to dry land," Judy said. They paddled to the nearest river bank. Once on dry land, Judy squeezed and twisted her pigtails like they were sopping wet flannels to wring them dry.

"Well that was a close one! Did we have to do that?!" Judy asked, still squeezing her pigtails dry.

"Unfortunately, yes. If we had made it to the other side panthers would have been waiting for us. Jump straight in from the banks a few knots east? Snap! You're crocodile lunch." Alan explained, making a gesture with his arms to emulate a crocodile's jaws. Peter was still coughing and spluttering so Alan gave him a few sharp slaps across his back until he spewed up some water.

"There, better?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, much better," Peter replied as he caught his breath.

Soon, they all got moving again. They walked through the jungle for a few minutes until they encountered the foot of a very tall cliff.

"Now what?" Peter asked. Alan pulled on a rope, and a basket made from banana leaves folded up around them and lifted them into the air.

"Alan, where are you taking us?" Judy asked.

"Just some place I call home." Alan explained. They kept going up and up until Alan stopped the lift and tied the rope around a hook. "Now what other questions do you have?"

"What is the ax for?" Peter asked. He pointed to a small, primitive ax that was hanging nearby. It must have been hastily made with what limited resources the jungle had to offer.

"I'd rather not say..." Alan answered. He shivered and sounded uncomfortable. Before Peter could consider pushing him for an answer; there was a screech as a vulture attacked. Peter and Judy screamed and hugged each other. Alan quickly threw the small ax. It beaned the vulture on the head, knocking it out instantly. In a flurry of feathers, the monster bird plummeted to the ground.

"Cool beans!" Peter cheered as he watched the bird fall.

"That's what the ax is for," Alan explained smugly. "Let's go inside." They walked out onto a short wooden landing and climbed some stairs. Peter and Judy soon followed Alan into a cave.

"Home, sweet home," Alan explained. The kids gasped in awe. There was some handmade furniture, a table and chairs in one corner, and a hammock in another corner. On the ceiling was written in red paint: _Alan's cave. Keep out!_ Judy considered that it would take more than a strongly worded message to scare away Van Pelt.

"Well? I mean it's not the Ritz, but it's home..." Alan asked for their opinion.

"I think it's awesome!" Peter said with joy. He liked going on adventures in the woods outside Brantford. This would be an awesome den.

Judy, on the other hand, thought it didn't look very comfortable in here, and it would be very chilly on cold nights. Bizarrely enough, Van Pelt's hut seemed more comfortable with its warm, roasting fire. Shame about the psychotic hunter and the stench of elephant dung.

"Aw, thanks Clyde." Alan was touched by Peter's kindness. He tousled his hair. Peter winced; he didn't like having his hair messed about with.

* * *

Peter and Judy decided to continue exploring their new home. Peter found some toys scattered across the floor.

"Cool! Toys!" Peter immediately grabbed a wooden toy train and began playing with it.

"Peter! Don't touch!" Judy said as she snatched the toys from him. She felt it was rather rude of him to be touching other people's stuff. "Sorry Alan, are these all your toys?"

"No, not all of them. They belong to other children." Alan explained.

"Other children? There were other kids in here before us?" Judy asked in disbelief.

"Why of course. Unfortunately, well, it's a rough neighbourhood..." Alan explained. He felt very uncomfortable explaining the fate of less fortunate kids that had arrived before him.

"Ouch..." Judy felt grossed out and dropped the toy. Peter immediately caught it and resumed playing with it without a care in the world.

"Peter! You're such a ghoul!" Judy hissed. She was annoyed that he showed no compassion whatsoever.

"I'm bored!" Peter replied in a rude tone as he continued pushing a toy train around. Judy stifled a growl as she stomped off. "Rrrrrrrrr!"

"Alan? How long have you been here?" Judy asked. She decided just to ignore Peter.

"Well, let's see..." Alan pulled back a curtain he made from some leopard fur. "Ah, 30 years, 6 months and a day."

"You've been here for that long?!" Judy gasped. "Didn't you try solving your clue?"

"There was a clue?!" Alan asked.

"See Judy, there was no clue..." Peter chipped in. Luckily for Judy, Alan didn't hear him.

"Yes a clue. You roll the dice and some green writing appears." Judy replied.

"You mean I could have left this horrible place years ago?!" Alan yelled. He then broke down in tears.

"Hey, don't feel so glum! I'm sure we can help you somehow..." Judy tried to comfort him. "If you helped us solve our clue, maybe Jumanji might send you home."

Alan cheered up. "That just might work! Bonnie, what was your clue?"

"Clear as ice, but worth the price," Judy recited the clue.

"I know this! I know this!" Alan cheered as he danced around with Peter. "Hold on," he went off to fetch something. Alan soon returned with a long pole with a shard of glass at the tip.

"What's that?" asked Peter.

"It's for seeing around corners," Alan explained. "Watch." He poked the stick into a small hole in the wall. The mirror attached on the end showed there was a chamber on the other side, and in that chamber was a box on a small table.

"I can see something!" said Judy. "Looks like a box!"

"I know!" Alan said with a broad grin. "The problem is, there's no way to get in there. The gap is far too small." Alan was right, he would simply not fit through the small tunnel.

"It's a bit too small for me as well." Judy replied.

"I think Clyde might be small enough," Alan said with a wink.

"Alright!" Peter cheered. He was eager to explore.

"No way! You're not risking my little brother's neck for some stupid box!" Judy suddenly stood in their way.

Judy was being difficult, again... "Out of the way, Jude! I can take care of myself." Peter rudely pushed her aside and crawled into the tunnel.

Alan wondered why Clyde called his sister Jude.

Judy sweated nervously, she saw Alan had a quizzical look about him. "And my name's Bonnie!" she yelled after Peter. "Jude is a school friend of ours... I don't know why he calls me that." That seemed to work as Alan changed the subject.

"So where do you go to school?" Alan asked.

"Brantford Elementary," Judy explained.

"Me too! Well I did before I got trapped here," Alan replied. "Do you know Billy?"

"No, I don't know anyone called Billy..." Judy replied. She was more concerned about Peter than engaging in small talk. "Clyde, are you alright in there?"

"Just fine, Bonnie..." Peter's voice echoed throughout the cave. He pulled out a torch and switched it on. In front of him was a wooden box. It was perched on four tall thin legs, and it opened from the front like a mailbox.

Judy and Alan could see Peter examining the box with caution.

"Try seeing what's inside, Clyde," Alan called. Peter decided to do just that. He opened the box. Inside was a jade globe. For some reason it sparkled and glowed dramatically as if it wanted Peter to take it.

"There's something in here," Peter called back.

"Don't touch it!" Judy yelled.

"Bonnie..." Alan hissed.

"It could be booby trapped!" Judy replied.

"It could be our ticket out of here..." Alan muttered under his breath. Luckily Peter didn't listen and picked up the globe. It felt quite heavy and rather cold. He noticed it was divided up into sections, like the Earth's bread crusts. Peter got an F in geography. He also noticed that on each plate were oceans and continents, but they were not familiar.

"I think it's some sort of puzzle, like that Rubik's Cube I threw away last month." Peter found he could twist the puzzle about. It shifted the plates around.

"You mean _my_ Rubik's cube!" Judy yelled.

"Yeah, sure." Peter replied as he played with the puzzle. Judy was furious that Peter had threw away her Rubik's cube. She growled and stormed off.

"Clyde, how about coming out now?" asked Alan.

"Ok," Peter went to leave but a gust of wind suddenly blew past him. "Uh?" He turned back and saw the black glass orb of Jumanji inside the box. It had some writing which read: _'_ _Solve the puzzle, go home.'_ The image then vanished. Peter rubbed his eyes in disbelief; he decided it was just an illusion.

"Clyde, what's taking so long?"

"Nothing..." Peter replied. He tried to to go back, but suddenly the cave shook violently.

"Aghhhh! What's happening?" Judy yelled.

"The cave is collapsing!" Alan embraced Bonnie to shield her from falling debris. Unfortunately rocks collapsed over the tunnel, sealing Clyde in.

"Clyde!" Judy called.

"I'm fine." Peter called back. He coughed from the dust. " _Kaff! Kaff!_ But I'm trapped!"

"Oh thanks a bunch, Alan!" Judy yelled at Alan.

"Hey! I was the one who went in here," Peter called back.

"Try solving the puzzle. We'll dig you out." Alan called.

"Might as well..." Peter said to himself as he had nothing else to do for an eternity.

* * *

While Peter tried to solve the puzzle, Judy and Alan dug him out.

"I swear, if we can't get him out, I'll never speak to you again!" Judy yelled as she tossed aside a rock.

"I'm really sorry!" Alan was practically grovelling. Suddenly it got very dark all of sudden. "Gee, is it night already?" Alan asked. There was an inhuman gurgle and rasping sounds.

"Alan!" Judy shrieked. He turned to find a giant spider was glaring down at them with its eight ruby eyes. The spider drooled with hunger.

"Now how did that get there?" Alan pondered.

"You didn't know your cave had a giant spider?!" Judy yelled. She hated spiders, especially giant ones.

"Well it must have been asleep..." Alan replied.

"Alan! We have to do something!" Judy yelled as they backed up against a wall. Alan decided to brandish the glass spear.

"Clyde, can you hurry up? We're about to be eaten by a giant spider!" Alan called.

Meanwhile hundreds of much smaller spiders flooded the chamber Peter was trapped in and crawled all over him. They itched, which was very distracting while Peter struggled with the puzzle. Now he remembered why he threw away his sister's Rubik's Cube.

"And I'm being eaten by hundreds of mini spiders!" Peter yelled back. He tried shaking the spiders from his hair.

"Clyde!" Judy called desperately. Peter had enough sense to know his sister was in danger. ' _To hell with this stupid puzzle!'_ He smashed the puzzle hard on the ground, and some pieces flew off. This was a neat trick Peter learned from tile puzzles. He took the pieces and put them back where he intended them to go. ' _Bingo!_ ' The puzzle flashed and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_The Price_

Peter woke up in the living room. His head throbbed and everything was blurry. Judy and Alan soon woke up too. They were disoriented and needed a few seconds to figure out where they were.

"I'm home..." Alan said with awe as he recognised the drab furnishings. "I really am home! Woohoo!" He jumped up and began dancing around the room. "I'm home! I'm home!"

"Shhh!" Judy hushed him. "Aunt Nora might hear you!" Judy didn't think Aunt Nora would be pleased to have a smelly jungle man in her living room.

"Aunt Nora?" Judy asked. There was no answer.

"She might have gone out," Peter explained. He was already up on his feet looking for Aunt Nora.

"Well that's a surprise..." Judy replied. She sighed with relief. Now at least Alan could be as loud as he wanted.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" Alan wandered the house looking for his parents. The house was completely empty. "Mom...?"

"Alan..." Judy sighed. "You've been gone for thirty years; I'm sorry but I think your parents are long gone."

"Yeah, we live here now. Our Aunt Nora bought the place last week," Peter explained. Alan was crestfallen; he flopped down onto the sofa.

"But, this is my home..." Alan said in a small voice.

"Correction, it was your home. Your folks must have sold it," Judy replied. She felt sorry for him; he must have only been a child when Jumanji cruelly took him away. Now he was back and in an unfamiliar world.

"What are we going to do with him?" Peter asked.

"We can't keep him. How are we supposed to explain who he is? And where he came from?"

"Well, we can't throw him out! You heard him, this is his home!" Peter replied. They exchanged awkward looks. Aunt Nora wouldn't believe them in a million years that a magic board game took them to another world and they brought back a weirdly dressed jungle man.

"I'm hungry," Alan announced as he stood up.

"Kitchen's this way," Peter offered to help him find the kitchen.

"I know where my parents' kitchen is," Alan replied rudely. He walked ahead of Peter, confidently as he had walked along these halls for years.

* * *

Alan walked into the kitchen; it had remained untouched apart from groceries Aunt Nora had left on the kitchen table. He made a beeline for the fridge and tore off its door with inhuman strength.

"Ay! Don't do that!" Peter yelled. "Aunt Nora's gonna be so mad..."

Alan didn't seem to care as he devoured several candy bars. He tore them from their wrappers and stuffed them in his mouth, greedily chewing them.

"Mmm! Munchy Crunchies! My favourite!" Alan said with a mouthful of chocolate. Judy winced in disgust as there was bits of chocolate stuck in his beard.

"Alan, don't speak with your mouth full," Judy said. She was concerned he might choke.

Alan made a sound that might have been "Oops, sorry," but it was difficult to make out.

"Don't eat them all! Save some for us!" Peter whined. Luckily Alan had satisfied his appetite.

"What should we do next? Let's watch TV!" Alan asked before answering his own question. They went back to the living room.

* * *

Alan turned on the TV and put on a cartoon. Judy yawned as it was a mind numbing and stupid cartoon that Peter liked to watch.

Strangely, Peter didn't want to watch his favourite show. He felt guilty for cheating on the puzzle, _It's just a dumb old board game! It can't know I cheated! And even it did! What's it gonna do?_ He was about to find out. Jumanji's black glass orb appeared again, this time it simply read: _'Cheater'_ in green letters before the illusion vanished. Peter again rubbed his eyes in disbelief. _I must be seeing things..._

Peter suddenly sprouted a tail. It was a short brown and furry tail, like a monkey's.

"Oh my gosh! Peter! You're growing a tail!" Judy gasped.

"On no! Not cool!" Peter groaned as his hair receded into a simple spikey hairdo. "Why is this happening to me?!" He could only watch as fur sprouted from his cheeks and grew all over his body. It felt very itchy.

"Clyde, did you actually solve that puzzle?" Alan asked. He looked at Peter as if he had two heads.

"Well... It was too hard and you guys were in danger, so I kinda broke off a few pieces and put them back where I wanted them to go," Peter explained.

"You cheated!?" Alan yelled. Peter flinched as Alan looked as if he was going to throttle him. "No no no! Jumanji hates cheaters! I should know, I've been caught by it a few times!"

"Well, what do we do now? I can't let Aunt Nora see him like this!" Judy said in a flustered tone.

"We have to go back to Jumanji," Alan explained.

"What?! Are you kidding me?! We nearly got killed in there!" Judy yelled. "Forget it, we're staying put." She crossed her arms in defiance and pouted.

Suddenly, vines grew on the main staircase and the house suddenly shook violently.

"Looks like Jumanji has other ideas..." Alan sighed as a stampede of animals charged down the stairs and smashed down the front door, squashing poor Officer Bentley in the process.

"Raffle tickets anyone?" Officer Bentley asked while groaning in pain from under the door.

"Clyde... have you been keeping an entire zoo in your room again?" Judy asked as if this was an entirely normal and regular thing to happen.

* * *

Peter and Judy followed Alan upstairs. The upper floor had been given a jungle makeover. Vines grew across the walls like spider webs; their purple blooms hissed at Peter as he walked past.

"What happened up here?!" Judy asked.

"Jumanji happened," Alan explained. As they passed a bedroom yet to be claimed by Peter, they saw a lion sleeping on the bed. Alan put his finger to his lips to tell them to not make a sound as they sneaked past.

The house soon started to slowly melt away. They were no longer in Brantford.

"Well, here we are, back in Jumanji..." Alan sighed.

"I can still see half of the upstairs bathroom behind those trees," Peter remarked. There was a broken toilet and a bathtub nearby. They were covered in moss and vines.

As they walked, they heard the sound of high pitched chattering; it sounded like a sort of language, but one that made no sense whatsoever.

"Shh!" Alan suddenly silenced Peter and Judy, they froze instantly. "That sounds like the Manji, a local tribe that lives round here."

"Are they dangerous?" Judy asked.

"If you get on the wrong side of them," Alan explained. "Although I think that's probably their only side..." The voices soon grew quiet. "Phew! That was a close one."

* * *

The three players continued to walk through the thick, green jungle. As Alan pulled aside a bush's dense foliage, he found himself looking at a familiar and unwanted face; Van Pelt. The hunter glared and swiftly knocked Alan out with an almighty whack from his gun.

"Alan!" Peter and Judy yelled.

"Don't move!" barked Van Pelt. He pointed his gun directly at them; Peter and Judy instinctively put up their hands in surrender. "Yes, now get moving!" he barked. Peter and Judy did as they were told and marched through the jungle with their arms held up high.

Judy and Monkey Boy (sorry Peter), soon arrived in a clearing; Peter glared at the fourth wall.

"I'm not a monkey boy!" Peter yelled, but Judy and Van Pelt couldn't hear him. Van Pelt then gave them permission to put their arms down. They sighed and lowered their arms.

"Now, we can continue where we left off..." Van Pelt continued to point his gun at them.

"W-w-what do you want from us?" Judy asked.

"I'll ask the questions!" Van Pelt snapped. Peter and Judy yelped. "How did you get here?"

"We told you, a board game brought us here!" Judy replied.

"Poppycock! Tell me the truth!" Van Pelt yelled.

"That is the truth!" Judy replied nervously.

"Then you're not from Jumanji... how interesting," Van Pelt smiled wickedly.

"Yes, I suppose you could say we're from another world," Judy replied.

"Another world? Now that is interesting..." Van Pelt said while cocking his gun and pointing it at them. They gasped in horror, fearing this was the end.

* * *

"Now I only want one more thing from you brats!" Van Pelt sneered.

"What's that?" Peter asked sarcastically. During the last half an hour, his transformation completed itself. Thick brown fur grew down his arms and legs. He had thick tufts of brown fur on his cheeks and short spikey hair on his head. His nose was much bigger and flatter.

"The jade puzzle globe of the Manji. I know you have it..."

"And suppose we won't give it to you?" Peter said defiantly.

"Then you will die..." Van Pelt cocked his gun. Peter gulped.

"We have no choice Peter, just hand it over." Judy added. Peter took it out from under his shirt.

"Yes! Now I can finally leave this wretched place! _Gahahahaha!_ " Van Pelt held the jade puzzle globe aloft and laughed manically.

* * *

Van Pelt still stood there holding the jade puzzle globe aloft. "What is this sorcery? Do something you accursed relic!" He shook the orb furiously.

"You have to solve it; it's a puzzle," Judy explained.

"Hmmph! Very well. As for you two, you are my prisoners," Van Pelt said with a cold icy stare.

Peter and Judy were reunited with Alan; he was waiting for them in a cage. Van Pelt ordered them into the cage and locked them in. While the hunter was occupied with the puzzle, the gang passed the time.

"Thanks a lot Clyde, now we're all gonna all end up as Van Shmelt's trophies..." Alan sulked and curled himself up into a ball. The cage was very cramped; they were squashed together.

"Hey! He's just a kid. Don't be so hard on him!" Judy retorted. Peter was always annoying her and refusing to do as he was told, but he was her little brother and no one was going to speak to him like that; not even their new friend.

"Jumanji is hard, don't expect it to show any mercy, Bonnie." Alan glared at her before curling up and going to sleep.

With Alan sleeping, Judy could speak to Peter without having to refer to him as Clyde. "How are ya doing, Peabuddy?" she asked. Peter was hanging upside down from the top of the cage by his tail.

"Fine. I'm learning how to use my new tail," Peter replied.

"Well, don't get too attached to it, I'll get us out of this. Trust me." Judy said. Although she was unsure how.

"Quiet in there!" Van Pelt barked. The three prisoners quickly became silent until Van Pelt turned his attention back to the puzzle. Eventually it was night and Van Pelt had lit a fire.

The faint glow of the fire lit up a very small area around the cage and Van Pelt's makeshift camp. Beyond this the jungle faded into darkness. The fire crackled and smelt like a barbecue.

"Alan, there's something I need to tell you," Judy struggled to find her words. She began playing with her pigtails.

"Well, spit it out," Alan replied. He didn't even bother to look at her.

"I'm not Bonnie; and he's not Clyde. I'm Judy, and he's my brother, Peter," Judy explained.

"Oh, that's real helpful! Thanks for being so honest, at last!" Alan said rudely. He continued to sulk.

"Do you have to be so moody!?" Judy hissed.

"I don't know, how am I supposed to trust you now, Judy, when you've lied to me."

"I wasn't sure I could trust you! We'd just arrived in Jumanji for the first time! How were we supposed to know you weren't some sort of trap?!" Judy explained.

"How do I know you two aren't some sort of trap set by Jumanji?" Alan retorted.

"Will you lot shut up?!" Van Pelt yelled. They quickly became silent and hugged each other; they quivered like jelly. Van Pelt returned to keeping watch.

"Look, we're tearing each other apart here; fighting won't solve anything!" Judy hissed quietly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for yelling at you Peter," Alan sighed.

"No problem. And call me Peabuddy," said Peter. He was still swinging upside down by his tail.

* * *

The three prisoners debated how they were going to escape.

"We need some sort of distraction," said Judy.

"And the keys. In case you haven't noticed Judy, we're locked in here," Alan explained. Judy sighed in despair.

Van Pelt heard something in the bushes; suddenly, a monster leapt out at him.

"Agggh! Blast!" Van Pelt cursed as he fought with the slavering beast.

By the faint glow of the fire, Judy could see the beast more clearly than the night before. Its fur was cinnabar; she also noticed it had unnatural red eyes. Demonic red eyes would be a very apt description; but why would such a horrid creature exist? And why would it resemble something from the darkest of nightmares?

"Alan, what is that thing?" Judy asked. The monster's horns were long and curved black, like that of a goat. However, the creature was swift and powerful, and built like a rather large predator, such as a lion.

"A Jersey Devil; a figure from your worst nightmares..." Alan warned in an ominous tone.

"A monster? Like the B-b-boogeyman?" Peter asked. He was too frightened to get his words out.

"Why not? Anything can exist in Jumanji, especially if it's dangerous!" Alan explained. Peter gulped loudly.

While all this was happening, a Manji sneaked up to the cage and began trying to pick the lock. He was orange and had big cartoony eyes and straw for hair.

"Who is tha-"

"Shhh! He's a Manji," Alan explained. "He's trying to help us escape." He spoke quietly to avoid attracting Van Pelt's attention. Unfortunately the huntsman was able to overpower the large beast and shot it several times; the beast groaned before slumping lifelessly to the ground. Van Pelt then caught sight of the Manji fiddling with the cage.

"You!" Van Pelt snarled. The Manji hollered and made whooping sounds before running away. "Get back here you good for nothing piece of driftwood!" Van Pelt swung his gun about like a club. Peter was able to grab it with his tail. Van Pelt had no time to react as Peter began whacking him with it. "Ow! Ahh! Blast!" Van Pelt cried as Peter clobbered him. He stumbled backwards and fell into the jaws of a waiting Jumanji man-eating crocus. The plant snapped its jaws shut on him. "Blast!" Was all the hunter could say, lamenting his fate.

"Nice one, Peter!" Judy cheered. She tousled his hair playfully. The Manji came back and chattered in a strange language before helping to free the prisoners.

"Thanks," Alan said gratefully as he offered a handshake. But the Manji's mood soon soured. More of the wooden masks appeared and quickly surrounded Peter, Judy and Alan while brandishing spears. They chattered and squawked furiously.

"What are they saying?" Judy asked.

"They want the jade puzzle globe; they say it belongs to them," Alan explained.

"Well, let's hand it over," Peter replied. He was holding the puzzle.

"Did you listen to anything I've told you?! Never trust anyone! They're probably lying!" Alan yelled. The Manjis pointed their spears at him in a threatening manner and chattered in raised voices.

Judy could see there was no way out. They had to hand over the orb. "Alan, just hand it over."

"Fine..." Alan took the orb and handed it over. The Manji from earlier took it and began fiddling with it. After a few seconds he handed it back to Peter.

"Ace! I know what to do now!" Peter said as he made the last few moves. The puzzle was finally solved. Beams of light flashed out of it and the orb shot into the sky. It then exploded like a firework, there was a message: _Solve the puzzle, go home._

"We did it!" Judy cheered as they faded into sparkles before vanishing completely.

* * *

They woke up in their attic. Everything was back to normal; no vines, no animals, nothing. It was as if nothing had happened.

"We're back home! And the house is back to normal!" Judy gasped. She checked just to be sure that Jumanji hadn't left anything behind.

"Hey! I'm me again! I'm not a monkey!" Peter gasped. He checked himself in an old cracked mirror.

"Phew, that's a relief," Judy sighed.

"I'll say," Alan added. "Now let's get rid of this nasty little board game..."

However Jumanji had other ideas; it sucked Alan back in.

"Alan!" Judy yelled in anguish.

"Come on! We have to go back!" Peter said as he quickly sat down and picked up the dice.

"No!" Judy cried as she grabbed his wrist.

"Judy, let go!" Peter wrenched himself free.

"Peter, It's too dangerous!"

"Judy! He saved us! Now it's our turn to save him!" Peter said in a serious and determined voice.

"But..." Judy was about to question him but realised he was right. They had to save Alan.

"Are you game?" Peter asked.

"Yes, let's roll."

Peter paused. "Hold on, I'll be back in a sec." He ran off downstairs. A few minutes later he returned with an armful of Munchy Crunchy bars.

"Peter?" Judy asked.

"Just a few snacks for the road," Peter grinned.

"Come on, I'll roll," Judy sighed. She rolled the dice. They yelled as they were sucked back into Jumanji for another adventure.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hunted_

Peter and Judy once more found themselves in the jungles of Jumanji. The morning sun pierced through the canopies of the towering trees above them. The place smelt damp. Peter could smell wet soggy moss and rotten eggs from the clay-like mud.

"Well, here we are again," Judy sighed. "We better find Alan as soon as possible." She heard a twig snap.

"Alan?" Peter asked. There was a growl.

"That's not Alan..." Judy said nervously as they hugged each other tight. A lion bursted from the bushes. "Aaaaaaaaahh!" Their screams filled the jungle as the lion just stood there and growled. He had sand coloured fur and a brown mane. It was a very grand looking mane, something a king of beasts would be proud of. The lion was about to pounce on them but a pebble hit him on the head. The lion snarled and ran into the shadows where the pebble came from. Peter and Judy sighed with relief and broke off from their hug. Something else was in the bushes as they rustled. It was Alan this time.

"Alan!" The two kids hugged him. His beard felt like sandpaper and he smelt like Peter's socks.

"Hey guys. Back so soon?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, we were pretty bummed out that Jumanji took you back." Judy explained.

"Why did it do that?" Peter asked.

"Who knows? It's short-changed me before." Alan replied. "Well, enough talk. What's your clue?"

"We didn't get one." Judy said blankly. "What does that mean?"

"It means you didn't solve your clue, Sherlock." said a voice. Judy could make out it sounded like a young boy, about Peter's age. However he didn't have Peter's persistent head cold.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Alan said sharply while brandishing a big stick. He was understandably cautious, he didn't know if they were another of Jumanji's evil residents.

A boy stepped out from the bushes. He was wearing a blue sweater with green triangles. Judy also noticed he had brown shorts, socks roughly pushed down to the ankles and blue sneakers with stars on them.

"Who are you?" Judy asked.

"Name's Oscar, don't wear it out." said Oscar with a smirk. Judy disliked his attitude. She snorted scornfully.

"Neato! I'm Peter!" Peter grinned as he offered to shake hands with Oscar, but Judy pulled him away.

"Peter!" she hissed. "Don't trust anyone here!"

"Judy! He's just a kid! He can't do any harm!" Peter snapped at her. "Sorry about that, she can be so rude sometimes." Peter said to Oscar. Judy sulked and crossed her arms. _Why doesn't he just listen to me for once?!_

"That's ok. Older sister, eh?" Oscar replied.

"Yup, unfortunately." Peter replied with a groan. Judy grunted as if he had offended her.

"Hmmmph!"

"Well, I don't have any siblings, or any family for that manner. Can't stand people telling me what to do." said Oscar.

"I here ya." Peter nodded sympathetically.

"Ok, that's enough Peter." Judy said sharply.

"Keep out of this, Bossy!" Oscar said in a cross tone.

"I don't like your attitude!" Jude yelled. There were many other things about him she didn't like. The way he had sloppily folded down his socks, winter socks were meant to be pulled up, otherwise he should have worn trainer socks. His hair was just awful, it looked like a dead porcupine. It was a very large mess of overgrown hair, riddled with parasites. And held up with tacky green swimming goggles.

"I don't like your face!" Oscar answered back. Judy was taken back by his insult, she felt like slapping him across the face. To be honest Oscar only said that to provoke her, he actually thought she was rather pretty.

"Guys, don't argue..." Alan sighed as he separated the two kids.

"Anyway, she's Judy and the big guy is Alan." Peter explained.

"Nice to meet ya, Alan." said Oscar. He shook Alan's very large, rough hands. They felt very coarse and dusty. As if he had been working very hard.

"You too, squirt," Alan said with a smirk as he roughly tousled Oscar's hair. Oscar wriggled away from him and tidied up his hairdo. Judy gently pulled Alan's arm to get his attention.

"Alan, we need to talk about you doing that..." she whispered to him.

"How did you get here Oscar? What's your clue?" Peter asked.

"Don't have one. I'm not a player like you guys." Oscar explained.

"You're not?!" Alan gasped.

"Nope. You might say I'm part of Jumanji. One of it's residents." Oscar explained while checking his fingernails, they were very grubby.

"Eep!" Peter gulped. "You're not gonna hurt us are you?"

"No, of course not." Oscar replied. He held his arms at his sides in a sassy manner. Peter sighed in relief.

"I still don't trust him," Judy whispered to Alan.

"Me neither, but Peter has a point; he can't hurt us even he wanted to." Alan replied.

"Any way, it's not safe to be hanging around in the jungle. We better find somewhere safe." Oscar explained.

"There's my place but, there's a giant man-eating spider in there." Alan sighed. Judy yelped when he mentioned spiders.

"She hates spiders..." Peter explained, rolling his eyes.

"Well, this will come in handy..." Oscar smirked as he took out a furry spider on a fishing rod toy. Peter snickered before Judy glared at them. Oscar hastily put his toy away.

"He's afraid of the Boogeyman..." Judy said with a cruel smirk. _That'll teach him!_

"Please don't mention the Boogeyman!" Oscar said as he started to shiver.

"Wow, you're easy to scare, kiddo." Judy grinned.

"Watch it, Bossy!" Oscar snapped. They exchanged filthy looks as Alan lead them back to his cave.

* * *

Eventually they arrived back at the cave. Standing at the mouth of the cave they could see it was a lot darker and there was now an ominous tone about the place. They noticed there were spider webs smothering everything. Judy yelped as spiders fled from her torch's light.

"I think we should come back later," Alan explained in a nervous tone.

"Nonsense! Just need some bug spray or a flamethrower," said Oscar as he went through his stuff.

"I think a flamethrower might be a bit much..." Judy said while cringing.

"Let's just go," said Alan. They went without Oscar.

"Hey! Wait up!"

* * *

Alan guided them to the only other safe place in Jumanji he could think of; the crystal lake. They engaged in small talk along the way.

"So... you wear a lot of blue and green, Oscar." said Peter nonchalantly.

"And you wear a lot of orange and purple, Peter." Oscar replied.

"Touché."

"I'm sure Oscar has a other outfits..." Judy cut in.

"Uh, sure," Oscar replied nervously. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Tell us about yourself." Peter said whilst holding his arms folded behind his head.

"Well, I'm in 3rd grade. I hate broccoli. I'm a Pisces..." Oscar started describing himself.

"What's with the goggles?" Peter asked.

"It's an anime thing." said Oscar. Peter stared blankly. "Japanese cartoons..." Oscar added with a sigh.

"Here we are!" Alan said loudly as he pointed to a vast, blue lake. The water looked very clean and inviting.

"Aw, we didn't pack our swimming costumes..." Peter sighed.

"I don't think it's safe to be swimming in there," said Judy as she looked at Alan for a response.

"Actually this lake is pretty safe for swimming in." Alan explained. "And the water is clean enough to drink."

"I might dip my feet in it later," Judy said dismissively. She sat on the sandy shore and admired the view. For a terrifying world, Jumanji had some beauty.

However the peaceful scene was spoiled by a swarm of biting butterflies. The insects looked like regular butterflies but were aggressive and would strip a human of their flesh in seconds.

"Oh no!" Alan groaned as he heard the swarm chirping as it headed towards them from across the lake.

"They're butterflies! What's the problem?" Judy asked as she got up.

"Biting butterflies. The clues in the name..." Alan explained. "We need to leave, now."

"Ok. Come along you two." Judy said to Peter and Oscar. They ran into the depths of the jungle with the butterflies not far behind. Luckily a net dropped on the butterflies; the ravenous swarm struggled furiously.

"Well, that was handy," said Judy as she wiped her brow. "I wonder who put that net there. They soon found out as Van Pelt stepped out of the bushes.

* * *

"Blast! These vile pests again!" He cursed as he released the butterflies. The swarm retreated for now. Before Peter and the others could skedaddle Van Pelt caught sight of them. "You! Accursed brats! I'll have your heads!" He pulled his gun on them. Peter, Judy and Alan stuck up their hands instinctively.

"Well well, looks like your luck has run out, Parrish..." said Van Pelt with a cruel smirk as he observed his captives. "And what's this? The elusive trickster..." He noticed Oscar amongst his hostages. The boy was protected by Jumanji unfortunately, so he couldn't hurt him. Oscar gave him a silly wave.

"Leave me and my trophies, boy..." Van Pelt said to Oscar in a harsh tone.

"Uh, finders keepers, Van Pelt. They're with me, they're my prisoners." Oscar explained, crossing his arms.

"Do not trifle with me boy!" Van Pelt raised his voice in anger.

"Mmm! Trifle!" Oscar said with a silly grin. He licked his lips while thinking of trifle. Van Pelt continued to be frustrated with him.

"Begone!"

"Not without my prisoners! You leave!" Oscar said defiantly.

"Why you-!" Van Pelt snarled. He was about to strike Oscar when green lightning struck. Where Van Pelt once stood there was a shrew. It squeaked and scuttled away into the bushes.

"What was that?!" Judy gasped.

"He broke an agreement. When I came to Jumanji, I was given a contract to sign. If I signed it, I would be protected by Jumanji in return for my loyalty. If I hadn't, I'd be a player, just like you guys. Hunted down by Van Pelt," Oscar explained.

"And you signed the contract." Judy asked dryly.

"Well duh, who wouldn't?" Oscar replied.

"But that makes you just as dangerous as him!" Judy tried to explain, backing away from Oscar.

"No, not really. Jumanji is a death world. If you're unlucky, something or someone will kill you, but us enforcers of Jumanji's will don't go around killing players on sight. Well a few do, but it's not mandatory. We're more like referees, making sure you guys follow the rules." Oscar corrected her. She seemed relieved after his explanation.

"I see." Judy said as she listened carefully.

"Of course, I come across a few rule breakers now and again..." Oscar said while examining Peter.

"Hey! If this is about the Jade Puzzle Globe, I had no choice! Alan and Judy were about to be eaten by a giant spider!" Peter said with a frown.

"To be fair, that was still cheating, Peter..." Judy said as she stood a few feet away.

"Yep, Monkeyboy." Oscar said with a giggle. Peter glared at him.

"Anyway, shouldn't we be trying to solve our clue?" Judy asked.

"Clear as ice, but worth the price. How do we solve that?" Peter asked.

"I haven't the foggiest," Judy replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well you better find out, and soon." Oscar explained. "I can't help you though."

"We need somewhere safe to stay while we think, and I really want my cave back..." said Alan.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hunted_

The gang retraced their steps back to Alan's cave. Luckily, Alan knew where he was going. The jungle seemed vast and the muddy paths twisted and split off into different directions. It would be easy to get lost here.

"Here we are, home, sweet home. Well, apart from a major bug infestation..." Alan sighed.

"Do you want your shelter back or not?" Oscar asked impatiently.

"Uh, yeah."

"Then man up, and stop whining about a few spiders." Oscar frowned.

"A few 'giant' spiders." Alan said with emphasis as if he was correcting him.

"Can't have exciting adventures without giant spiders. Little ones are so mundane." Oscar explained.

"What's so exciting about getting eaten by giant spiders?" Peter asked. All this talk of spiders had made Judy faint, the others had wondered why they hadn't heard her bark orders at Peter for a while.

"I think we should move onto another topic," Alan cut in. He held Judy in his arms to prevent her collapsing on the hard, stone floor.

"Someone will have to look after Jude, and since you've volunteered Alan, that's you." Oscar explained.

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked.

"Go and teach that big fat spider a lesson!" Oscar replied with a grin. Peter gulped loudly in a cartoony manner.

* * *

Oscar and Peter went into the cavern alone. Peter's torch weakly lit up the pitch black cave's dining room and sleeping area. All of Alan's furniture was smothered with white spider webs, draped over the chairs and table like blankets. Peter yelped as a black spider with red eyes startled him, he grabbed Oscar and hugged him tight. The spider hissed before scuttling away.

"Peter, let go!" Oscar grunted as he prised himself free from Peter's vice like grip.

"Oscar, why are we doing this?" Peter asked.

"It's customary for young adventures like us to fight a giant spider at least once on our quest." Oscar replied whilst watching a cartoon on his portable television. (He was watching Mighty Max.) Peter decided not to dignify that with an answer and continued down the new tunnel, it's mouth was now where the crawl space to the subchamber containing the Jade Puzzle Globe used to be.

* * *

Judy soon woke up. Her vision was cloudy, very slowly it cleared and she could see Alan's bearded face and warm smile.

"Alan? What happened?" she asked.

"You fainted," Alan replied. Judy pulled herself up and looked around. Peter was missing.

"Where's Peter?" Judy gasped.

"He followed Oscar into the cave."

"And you let him?!" Judy yelled. "Come on!" Judy marched straight into the cavern. "How can you be so irresponsible..." she added under her breath.

"Uh, Judy. The spiders?" Alan explained.

"Eeeee!" Judy shrieked and ran back out again. Alan smirked in a smug tone, glad to not be chasing after Peter in a cave full of spiders.

* * *

Oscar and Peter arrived in a rather damp chamber. By the weak light of their torches they could see moss growing on the walls. Oscar explained this system of tunnels would often be flooded during wet weather.

"If Alan doesn't want to be washed out of his cave during the night, you better get him to fix that collapsed wall."

"I will, if we don't become spider chow.." Peter sighed. _This is a terrible idea, why did I agree to this..._ Peter wished he had stayed with Alan. _Oscar can risk his own life going on pointless and dangerous adventures_ , _Leave me out of it!_ Peter then felt as if he was being watched, well, he would now that several sets of red glowing eyes pierced the darkness.

"Uh, Oscar..."

"Yeah?"

"Why are there eyes?!" Peter asked, shivering. Oscar noticed the eyes too and gulped. He turned up the power on his torch. The cave lit up to reveal they were surrounded by spiders! The spiders were the size of dogs, at least a foot and a half in height and length.

"Aghhhhhhhhhh!" Oscar and Peter screamed before being webbed up.

* * *

Judy heard screams coming from the cave.

"Peter!" she cried. "That's it! Spiders or no spiders, I'm going in!" She marched into the darkness and smashed her knee on an unseen table. "Sonnuva-!" she swore under her breath as she clutched her leg. Aunt Nora didn't approve of swearing, and neither did Judy herself. _But damn! That hurt!_

"Judy, are you ok?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, just bashed my knee on something." Judy muttered. "Peter has the only torch, can't you light one?"

"Not without some wood and a flint."

"Oh, that's real helpful..." Judy groaned as she sat down on the cold stone floor.

* * *

Oscar and Peter woke up some time later. They were resting on a soft but strong silk web. Peter tried to move his legs, he couldn't. He soon realised he was wrapped up in a tight cocoon.

"Oscar."

"Uh?"

"What's going on? Why are we trapped in these things?" Peter asked.

"Looks like the spiders want to eat us." Oscar replied as he fidgeted about.

"I don't wanna be eaten! Ugh! I'm getting outta here! Nnnnngh!" Peter yelled. Oscar watched as he grunted and struggled. _There's no point him struggling, these webs are too strong._ Oscar sighed and returned to his thoughts. _There's a fetish for this sort of thing somewhere, I might look it up later._

Then, a huge spider scuttled into the chamber. She hissed and stared at her prey with eight red eyes.

"Oscar! Do something!" Peter cried.

"I can't! I'm forbidden from helping!" Oscar replied. He struggled desperately.

"Oscar, she's going to kill you aswell!" Peter explained. "If you won't help me, then at least save yourself..." He sounded defeated, figuring Oscar would only help himself.

"What? And have to listen to one of your sister's bossy rants about how selfish I was? No way!" Oscar replied. _I'd rather die than listen to that harpy!_ The giant spider loomed over Peter, she drooled venom as she was about to make the killing bite. Peter shut his eyes, waiting for death.

However something rather weird happened. The giant spider was turned into a clown spider. She now had a cartoon clown's head perched on a fat black widow spider's body. The clown had wild green hair with a black top hat nestled in the middle, a big shiny red nose and thick black eye liner around her eyes. She also had white triangular teeth sticking out of her mouth in a toothy grin. She took a minute to adjust to what had just happened and then took,a look at herself in one of the shiny crystals growing from the walls of the cavern. She yelped and felt her face.

"Leaping lizards! What the heck?!" said the clown spider.

"Oscar, what is that?" Peter asked, he winced and raised an eyebrow.

"It's a clown spider! It's cute, isn't it?" Oscar said with a giggle. Oscar loved clowns, especially their big shiny red noses.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Not really... I don't really like clowns, they creep me out!"

"Spoilsport..." Oscar mumbled as he sulked. The clown spider then turned her attention to the two boys.

"Did you do this to me?!" she asked. Oscar nodded. "Why?!"

"You were about to eat us!" Oscar replied in a cross tone.

"Eat you? Why would I do a thing like that?" The clown spider asked. She scratched her green hair. Oscar was about to answer but Peter interrupted him.

"Face it, she doesn't even remember what she was." Peter whispered. "Now would be a good time to ask her to let us go."

"Uh, since you don't want to eat us, how about letting us go?" Oscar asked with a cheesy grin.

"And letting our friend, Alan have his cave back?" Peter added.

"Sure," said the clown spider. She cut Peter and Oscar free from the web.

"Thanks," said Peter. He ran off to find Judy.

"You're leaving?" Oscar asked sadly.

"Yeah. Judy's probably worrying about me."

"But I wanna play with the spider clown," Oscar whined.

"Well, go ahead." Peter rolled his eyes. _What is your thing with clowns?!_

"I want you to stay."

"No, Judy's waiting for me, and that clown thing is creepy!" Peter made his excuses and left in a hurry.

Oscar crossed his arms and made a 'Hmmmph!' To show his displeasure. He just wanted someone to hang out with, someone his own age. Ever since he signed the contract of Jumanji he hadn't seen any other kids. Any that briefly stumbled into Jumanji the normal way quickly met a grisly end. Peter, Judy and their friend, Alan seemed different. They somehow managed to survive everything Jumanji threw at them, even Van Pelt was having difficulty eliminating them. Oscar, on the other hand, knew he could easily destroy them. He just couldn't be bothered.

* * *

Peter soon reunited with Judy and Alan.

"Peter!" Judy hugged her little brother. She was glad he wasn't hurt. "Where have you been?" She spoke down to him like a disappointed mother to her child.

"It's a long story..." Peter sighed.

"Well, we're not going anywhere so let's hear it." Alan piped in.

"We're not?!" gasped Peter and Judy.

"I've got my cave back, now just need to do a bit of spring cleaning." Alan wiped off some dust from the dining table. The clouds of dust made him cough and choke.

"Anyway, Oscar and I went down those tunnels, got captured by spiders," Peter explained.

"Those were your screams, eh?" Judy listened as she sat down on a dusty chair.

"Yeah, can I continue?" Peter asked. He waited for silence before continuing. "Well, we both dead meat when all of a sudden something weird happened.."

"What? Did Oscar start doing ballet?" Judy asked sarcastically.

"No!" Peter said as if Judy had said something stupid. "The giant monster spider turned into a clown spider thing!" Peter paused. Even he thought what he just said was stupid and unbelievable.

"Is this one of your stupid stories again, Peter..." Judy said while glaring at Peter. He always made up stories to get out of trouble. This sounded like one of them.

"No! I know this sounds weird, but that really happened! It had crazy green hair, a top hat and a big red shiny rubber nose!" Peter explained. _Why doesn't she believe me?_

"Yeah right..." Judy snorted in disbelief.

"It's true! I'll show you! Oscar's back there with it!" Peter said urgently as he tugged on Judy's arm. She sighed as she followed him reluctantly.

"Fine, but if this is another of your stories, Peabuddy..."

* * *

Judy and Alan followed Peter back to the spider cave. They arrived to find Oscar talking to the clown spider. Judy couldn't believe her eyes, for once Peter was telling the truth. And that clown spider has some pretty funky hair too.

"I guess I owe you an apology, Peter..." Judy said as she stared at the clown spider in shock. It looked bizarre, its wild green hair clashed with its purple and black stripy legs and its red shiny nose. What baffled her most was that it simply looked completely out of place in Jumanji, it looked friendly. Judy had noticed a pattern with all the creatures that had attacked them, they all looked extremely evil. Back home, Judy had seen lions in the zoo, and they looked pretty fearsome, but here everything looked ferocious, even those butterflies that attacked them.

"What in blazes is that?!" Alan asked.

"It's a clown spider." Oscar explained.

"Yes, but what is it doing here? In Jumanji?" Alan asked, staring at the clown spider in disbelief.

"I dunno," Oscar said as he shrugged his shoulders. The clown spider coughed for attention.

"Oh sorry. I'm Alan." Alan introduced himself.

"I'm Judy."

"And I'm Peter."

"Nice to meet you all." The clown spider took off its hat politely before putting it back on. "Uh, I don't appear to have a name." The clown spider scratched its wild green hair.

"I'm sure we can think of one," Peter replied.

"We don't have time for that! We have to solve our clue!" Judy cut in.

"Yes we do! You can go off and solve your clue, Peter and I want to play with the clown!" Oscar said harshly, looking to start an argument.

"No we don't!" said Peter. "You want to play with the clown thing..."

"We have balloon animals..." Oscar said in a sing-song voice while holding a balloon dog.

"Oh! I want a sword!" Peter said as he eagerly sprinted towards the clown spider.

"Ha! Told ya!" Oscar said with a giggle. Judy growled and went off back to Alan's part of the cave.

"Come on, Alan. Let the kids play..." Judy sighed. Alan followed her out.

Oscar sighed with relief. "Now that Miss Bossy is gone we can have some fun!"

"What did you have in mind?" Peter asked.

"Oh you'll see..."


	6. Chapter 6

_Hunted_

The clown spider made Oscar and Peter a balloon sculpture hat each and a balloon sword. Oscar watched intently, listening to sharp squeaking of the balloons being twisted and tied up into fantastic knots. Eventually the clown spider was finished and gave them a balloon sword each. The two boys began hitting each other with their balloon swords in a mock battle.

"Engarde!" said Peter.

"Hi-yaaaa!" Oscar yelled a warcry as their swords clashed. They made dull sounds as the inflatable weapons hit each other. Eventually Peter was exhausted. He yawned loudly to make his point.

"I'm tired," Peter said, again yawning as if it wasn't anymore obvious.

"The webs make a handy hammock," Oscar suggested.

"Yeah, but they're so sticky!" Peter explained.

"Don't worry, the clown spider thing will get us out." Oscar explained. Peter reluctantly agreed to his logic. "Give us a boost," Oscar said to the clown spider.

"Ok." The clown spider lifted them up and put them in the web. Just as he thought, Peter was immediately stuck, it would be almost impossible to escape. However the web was rather comfortable and he soon dozed off asleep.

"That's it, sleep tight. Now the fun can really begin!" Oscar let out an evil laugh.

* * *

Judy sighed as she picked spider webs from Alan's furniture.

"Ugh! Gross!" She whined. She hated spiders, even their webs made her cringe.

"What were we not looking at? We used this mirror on a stick, Peter found the puzzle, cheated and we went home." Alan mumbled as he examined the mirror staff.

"I hate to admit it, but at least he saved our lives." Judy sighed as she sat in one of the chairs.

"I suppose so, until things got worse. At least we solved the puzzle in the end."

"I don't want to think about that rotten thing," Judy snapped. "We solved it and got you out, fair and square! Then Jumanji went back on its deal!"

"I'm never gonna get out of here..." Alan sighed.

Judy sat upright. "Don't ever say that, Alan! You will get out. Because we're gonna get you out. Cross my heart!"

"Thanks Judy... I just wish Peter was here too..." Alan sighed.

"Where is that little snot?" Judy asked.

* * *

Peter woke up much later than he thought he would. He had only intended to have a short nap, but it felt like hours.

"Uh...?" He mumbled in a sleepy tone. There was a faint crinkle as he sat up. Peter yelped when he saw what he was wearing. He was wearing a white diaper with blue tabs and a blue boarder at his waist.

"Hey, Sleepyhead." Oscar snarked. Peter noticed he sounded a lot younger. He tried to talk.

"What did you do to me?!" Peter asked, his voice was several pitches higher than usual.

"This is how I have fun. Now where did I put the pacifiers..." Oscar replied. The clown spider stuck a blue shiny plastic pacifier in his mouth. "Ahsh! Thanksh!" Oscar thanked the clown spider, dribbling as he spoke because the dummy made it hard to speak.

"Keep that away from me!" Peter yelled as the clown spider shoved a green pacifier in his mouth. He reluctantly sucked it, blushing with embarrassment.

"Good, now lay down," Oscar said in an authoritative tone as he pushed Peter down onto the web. The web's sticky fibres held him down. Oscar laid down next to him. Peter noticed that he was also wearing just a diaper. He wondered what Oscar was going to do next.

The clown spider started sniffing them, it seemed interested in Peter's diaper for some reason as it kept sniffing him there. Peter winced, he was not comfortable being sniffed there. He stared at the clown spider as it sniffed him, he noticed its red clown nose was not a fake rubber nose, rather it was its actual nose. The creature was more like a dog. Peter tried to scooch away but the web was too sticky and held him to the spot.

The clown spider then started sniffing Oscar. He winced and tried to retreat but the web pulled him back. Oscar felt like he really needed the bathroom, he relaxed and felt his diaper become damp as he peed.

 _This is so weird! Why are you doing this, Oscar?_ Peter could only lay there helplessly as the clown spider sniffed them. Peter's stomach then gurgled, he could only cringe as he messed his diaper with a loud wet splat. He groaned in disgust at the horrid wet mess that squelched against his backside. _Oh geez! That's gross! Yeeeuck!_ He fidgeted, smooshing the mess about.

"Eeeew! Someone needs changing!" said the clown spider as it held its nose. Oscar had taken the time to teach the clown spider how to change diapers. Peter watched while cringing with embarrassment as he had his diaper changed.

After changing Peter's diaper, the clown spider sniffed him again. _I've got to put a stop to this. But how?_ Peter started to have very babyish thoughts and for some reason wanted to play with the clown spider's nose. He squeezed its red shiny nose. The nose squeaked like a squeaking toy. This noise amused Peter for some reason as he giggled and squeezed the clown spider's nose again.

"Ow! My nose! whined the clown spider as it rubbed its sore nose. Peter giggled. _Hehehe! That was fun!_ Peter watched as it sniffed him again. _Stop doing that! Creep!_ He frowned and honked its nose again.

"Try that now, Kiddo!" the spider said as it shrunk Peter. It picked him up and brought him close to its nose. Peter winced as the spider sniffed him. Its breath was like a strong gust of wind blowing his hair about. Peter was then focused on another babyish thought, he felt the urge to stuff his hands up the clown spider's nose. He decided to do just that. There was a wet splat as his hands sunk into something slimy. _Eeeeugh! Boogers!_ Peter tried to withdraw his arms but they were stuck in some kind of very strong green goo. It was very stretchy and gooey. Peter grunted as he struggled and squirmed, it was futile though as he was stuck fast.

"Eeeeugh! Get outta my nose!" cried the clown spider as it tried to pull Peter free. Peter groaned, the slimy mucus felt horrid, like cold porridge.

Oscar watched this spectacle. _Ngh! Those gooey noises! Curse this weird fetish of mine!_ He wet himself and cursed his weird obsession with goo as the clown spider yanked Peter out of the snot. The gooey mucus snapped like whips as Peter was pulled free.

"Yeeeuck! You're gross!" said the clown spider as it glared at Peter. It decided to teach him a lesson. The clown spider spotted a stalactite and grinned. Peter wondered what it was thinking as it held him against the pointed rock. With its other pair of hands, the clown spider squeezed its nose and two streams of mucus squirted out and splattered Peter to the stalactite. _Yeeeeeuck!_ Peter winced as more mucus oozed over him and started to harden. The clown spider stopped squirting snot and wiped its nose with a hankerchief as it admired its work. Peter was suspended a very long distance from the floor and glued to a stalactite in a thick wad of green mucus. He struggled helplessly.

"Eeeew! That's just disgusting!" Oscar whined.

"Now its your turn!" said the clown spider with a wicked grin as it shrunk Oscar. It picked him up and glued him on a nearby stalactite in the same manner.

"Yeeeuck!" Oscar groaned as he was slimed to the long pointed rock.

"That'll teach you, Squirt!" the spider laughed deviously as it watched its captives struggle.

* * *

Judy tapped the dusty table impatiently. "That's it. They've had their fun, I'm going to see what's going on." Judy abruptly got up from the table and headed back to the spider cave.

"Peter, get your butt in here, now!" Judy yelled. He didn't respond. "Peter! I mean it! Stop playing with your new friend and get here now!" There was no answer. "Petey?" Judy blindly ran down the pitch black tunnels until she reached the spider cave. She gasped as she looked up at the giant clown spider.

"Have you seen Peter?" she asked the clown spider. It turned around and said "Uh?" and it soon became obvious what it had done with Peter. Judy winced as she saw that Peter and Oscar had been shrunk and were each shoved up the clown spider's nostrils, feet first. They struggled and squirmed helplessly.

"Peter, what the-?!" Judy gasped.

"Judy, heeeeelp!" Peter yelled as he struggled. He was stuck up to his shoulders in mucus.

"You! Unhand them, now!" Judy said in a bossy tone. _Why are they up its nose?! Yeeeuck!_

"No!" yelled the clown spider.

"Don't argue with me, you, whatever you are!" Judy yelled.

"A clown spider..." said the clown spider with a sarcastic sigh.

"Just let them go!"

"Why should I?!" asked the clown spider.

"Because, I will kick your backside, Goofball! I'm a black belt in karate!" Judy yelled as she did a karate stance. The clown spider gulped loudly. It didn't want to find out if she was bluffing. It reluctantly pulled Peter and Oscar out of its nostrils and returned them to normal size.

"Peter!" Judy hugged her brother. "Eeeeeugh! You're covered in slime!" she groaned as the goo stuck them together.

* * *

They headed back to Alan's part of the cave.

"Eeeeugh! You boys are in such a mess!" Judy groaned as she watched the slime slowly dribble from them and form little green puddles on the stone floor. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know, I went to sleep for a bit and woke up dressed like this and all kinds of weird stuff happened." Peter explained. Under the thick oozing slime, Judy could just make out he was wearing a diaper.

"Where are his clothes?!" Judy sighed.

"I can fix that." Oscar wrote something in his book and as if by magic, Peter was back in his usual orange t-shirt and purple trousers.

"Thanks. But you still haven't explained how you both ended up its nose!" Judy asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain..." Oscar said sheepishly.

"I'll have to take your word for it. Now how about we get back to solving our clue?" Judy said, adamant about going home.

"Fine..." Oscar sighed. "Clear as ice, but worth the price. One crystal from that cave back there." He pulled out a large crystal, it was see through like a chunk of ice and felt just as cold. "Uh uh! There's a price!" Oscar pulled it out of reach just as Judy touched it.

"What do you want for it?" Judy asked.

"All of the candy bars in Peter's backpack." Oscar replied.

"But they were for Alan!" Peter whined.

"No candy bars, no crystal." Oscar said, shaking his head. "Come on, hand em over."

Judy growled. "Fine..." She poured out the candy bars in a neat pile in front of Oscar.

"And here's your crystal." Oscar handed over the crystal. As soon as Judy took the crystal, she turned into sparkles.

"Judy, we're going home!" Peter gasped as he slowly faded away too.

"But what about Alaaaaaan?" Judy asked as they vanished.

"Yeah what about me?" Alan asked.

"You have to solve your clue! Better get to it!" Oscar explained. _Thanks for not ratting on me, Peter..._ He thought as he squeezed a Munchy Crunchy bar until it broke in two.

* * *

Peter and Judy woke up in their attic. They sighed in relief, glad to be back home.

"Aw nuts! We didn't rescue Alan!" Peter whined as he gripped the board game and stared into its black glass orb.

"Never mind, Petey. Aunt Nora will be home any second, we'll have to try again tomorrow." Judy sighed. And just on que there was a jingle of keys and the front door being unlocked. "Come on! Aunt Nora might be wondering where we were." Judy tugged urgently on Peter's arm to get him to follow her downstairs.

They sprinted down the attic stairs, along the landing and then down the foyer stairs.

"Ah, where have you two been?" Aunt Nora asked as she put down her bags of groceries.

"We've been playing in the attic, found some cool stuff." Judy replied.

"I'd rather you two stayed out of there until I know it's safe." Aunt Nora tutted with disappointment. "This house looks very old and appears to be falling apart!" She continued to talk to herself, muttering something about the living room curtains being so last season.

Peter and Judy shrugged their shoulders. Aunt Nora often yakked on and on about things such as the curtains and furniture. It was best just ignore her.

"Peter, what really happened back in that cave with Oscar and the clown spider?" Judy asked.

"Uh, nothing really.." Peter answered while holding his arms folded behind his head.

"I know you're lying, what happened?"

"Nothing! Aunt Noraaaaa!" Peter ran off to kitchen with Judy chasing after him.

"Peter! If you're covering for him!" Judy yelled as she sprinted after him.


End file.
